Chopper landing. Sunset view. Exclusive first pictures. And a ticking countdown. The Indian media showcased it all.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Kanyakumari’s Vivekananda Rock Memorial after wrapping up campaigning on Thursday to embark on a 45-hour meditation exercise. He performed a similar meditation exercise after the 2019 elections in the Kedarnath cave. The media had then extensively covered the visit, highlighting Modi’s emphasis on “spiritualism, cultural heritage, and his personal faith”.
His inclination to meditate in solitude on the southernmost tip of the mainland of the country might be well-intended, given its calming effects, especially with the end of a long, gruelling campaign in the heat. But civil society and opposition leaders alike, questioned the Election Commission’s silence over the Prime Minister’s plan to meditate in a public place, which will of course grab media attention, that too, very close to the last phase of polling on June 1 when 57 seats will head for voting. As per the EC’s rules, campaigning 48 hours prior to the conclusion of the poll amounts to a violation of the model code of conduct.
A delegation of Congress leaders comprising Randeep Singh Surjewala, Abhishek Singhvi and Naseer Hussain met EC officials and urged the commission to ensure that the PM’s meditation exercise is not broadcast/telecast or printed during the silent period of the campaigning in both mainstream media and social media. However, there was no response from the ECI on this matter.
The minute PM Modi reached Kanyakumari, dozens of cameras descended upon the meditation spot and captured him from different angles. See this ANI video below. Several netizens online pointed out how the meditation exercise, which is usually done without interference or disturbance, was covered from “nine camera angles in a 28 second video.”
Outlook in its February 2024 issue titled ‘Omnipresent, Omniscient’, looked at the media’s undiluted adulation for PM Modi. “Modi is almost always seen alone in photographs—meditating in a cave in the Himalayas, feeding cows and peacocks at his residence, on a shikara in Dal Lake, or inaugurating India’s longest bridge in Assam,” Snigdhendu Bhattacharya writes.
Not just that. Almost every occasion has a differently-clad Modi, writes Ajay Gudavarthy. “Invasive cameras reminded us that authenticity lay in its demonstrative potential—jo dikhta hai, woh bikta hai (whatever is seen, sells),” Gudavarthy adds.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders attacked the opposition for “mocking” the prime minister’s meditation exercise and claimed that it was “another evidence of INDIA bloc’s hatred for Sanatan Dharma.” Outlook has previously reported on how the saffron party equates the Sanatan Dharma to Hinduism and Hindutva, which eventually helps the party gain voter-sympathy in Hindu-dominant states.
